Hi Newgrounds! It's been a while, but this year has been full of drastic changes for me--in a good way!

If you're not familiar with my work, I'm a Canadian artist in Edmonton, Alberta who draws three things; 

Monster girls, cute fat birds, and pinups! ...Sometimes all at once in the same drawing!

For the past couple years, I've been building my brand, expanding my artistic skills, finishing a teaching degree, and scraping by as an artist. I did some teaching work related to my degree, but I always had way more fun creating art for myself. This year, I took the plunge and registered for 25 different artist alleys and conventions all over North America, and I'm really happy to report that those shows were all a huge success! I'm finally seeing enough of a positive return to support myself and perpetuate what I love to do: creating original art. I even stopped taking commission work so I'd have more time to get my own ideas out there! I've even got my own art office and registerd business license!

Here are a couple of the things I've made for the first time this year... 

Hard Enamel Crow Pins (new ones coming soon, too!) -- 

Gold Ink Linen Cover Stock Prints based on my original inktober work-- (they're made with a specialty ink, too!) 

Handmade Vinyl Decals-- (my sister taught me how to plot vinyl and mask layered designs, which was cool)

Birdblob Merchandise (based on a little drawing game I made up to play with my art students)...

ANYWAY,

I  wanted to announce (to any fellow Newgrounds users) that I'm going to be heading out to MAGFEST 2019 this January with my artist friends Nackem, Purefey (my sister), and Castcuraga! I think one of us is confirmed for an artist alley table so far, so not all of us will be vending, but if you see us, feel free to say hello! Since Pico Day isn't a thing anymore, I'm hoping that a few of the OG Newgrounds folks will make the trip out-- but who knows! It's nice to meet new faces, too!

If you've never been to MAGfest before, it's the closest thing I can think of to 'nerd burning man', if you're really into Music and/or Gaming. It's expensive, and it's pretty tough to get a room for the convention, but it's definitely a one-of-a-kind experience.

SEE YOU THERE, MAYBE! :D

Here's which conventions I'll be attending this year if you're interested in checking out my art or meeting me! 

I'll add to the list as I get confirmed for shows, but here's the projected list for 2018 so far!

Feel free to drop a line here or on social media letting me know if you'll be attending the show, too! It's always nice to put a face to a name ahead of time. If you know of any shows you think my art might be a good fit for, feel free to suggest it here, too! I'm always looking for new cities/towns/events to check out, and I try to add a few new artist alleys to the roster every year.

FEBRUARY

Edmonton, AB - THE WITCHERY (Feb 17-18)

MARCH

Seattle, WA - EMERALD CITY COMIC CON (March 1-4)

Edmonton, AB - POP CULTURE FAIR (March 25)

Seattle, WA - SAKURACON (Mar 30-Apr 1)

APRIL 

Calgary, AB - CALGARY EXPO (April 26-29) 

MAY

Regina, SK - FAN EXPO REGINA (May 5-6)

Calgary, AB - OTAFEST (May 18-20)

Toronto, ON - ANIME NORTH (May 25-27)

JUNE 

Calgary, AB - HORROR CON (June 2-3) (unconfirmed)

JULY 

Montreal, QC - MONTREAL COMIC CON (July 6-8)

Calgary, AB - NSFCON (Date TBA) (unconfirmed)

Saskatoon, SK - GANBATTE CON (July 21-22)

AUGUST

Vancouver, BC - ANIME REVOLUTION (August 4-6)

Edmonton, AB - ANIMETHON (August 10-12) 

Toronto, ON - TORONTO FAN EXPO (August 31-September 2)

SEPTEMBER

Saskatoon, SK - SASK EXPO (September 15-16)

Edmonton, AB - EDMONTON EXPO (Sept 21-23) (unconfirmed)

OCTOBER 

Calgary, AB - FOOTHILLS (October 13) 

Halifax, NB - HALCON (October 26-28) (unconfirmed)

NOVEMBER

Vancouver, BC - VANCOUVER FAN EXPO (unconfirmed)

DECEMBER

JANUARY

Edmonton, AB - TASTE OF ANIMETHON (Date TBA) (unconfirmed)

My Newgrounds tank pin came in the mail!

Lots of great memories and people connected to this lil' tank.

Just wanted to show it off here, in case you're still undecided.

[Grab one for yourself for under 10 bucks]

Just a couple more artist alleys I'll be attending for the spring and summer!

(I'm deleting past shows to keep the new stuff up top)

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE! 

JULY 2017

Montreal Comic Con - Montreal, QC, Canada (July 7-9th)

AUGUST 2017 

Animethon - Edmonton, AB, Canada (August 11-13th)

Yukomicon - Whitehorse, YT, Canada (August 25-27th)

Toronto Fan Expo - Toronto, ON, Canada (August 31-Sept 3rd)

SEPTEMBER 2017 

Sask Expo - Saskatoon, SK, Canada (Sept 16-17th)

Edmonton Expo - Edmonton, AB, Canada (Sept 23-25)

OCTOBER 2017

Central Canada Comic Con (C4) - Winnipeg, Manitoba (October 27-30)

Hey guys! 

I'm doing a few art giveaways on TWITTER in the next four days. If you want to enter yourself, all you need to do is follow and retweet any of (or all of) the four twitter posts! My twitter profile is @Sabtastique.

One winner will be chosen for each package on Saturday July 9th! 

MONSTER GIRL Giveaway

1x Holographic Morrigan Poster 11x17"

4x Small Monster Girl Card Stock Prints 6x9"

3x Small Magnets (cursive 'fuck', cute crow, and "earth without art is just 'eh')

1x Red Devil Girl Sticker

PINUP GIRL Giveaway

1x Sugar Skull Day of the Dead Pinup Poster 11x17"

4x Small Pinup Girl Card Stock Prints 6x9"

3x Small Magnets (morrigan, cursive 'fuck' and art nouveau)

1x Red Devil Girl Sticker

GAMING Giveaway 

1x Fierce Deity Link with Masks Poster 11x17"

1x Bioshock Infinite - CAGE Poster 11x17"

2x Small Card Stock Prints 6x9" 

4x Small Magnets (3 pixel hearts and 1 Majora's Mask)

1x Red Devil Girl Sticker

1x Pokemon Memes Sticker Sheet

ANIME Giveaway

1x Classy Pokemon Poster 11x17"

4x Small Anime Prints 

3x Small Magnets (Pikachu, Oppai, Saitama 'OK' face) 

1x Red Devil Girl Sticker

1x Pokemon Memes Sticker Sheet

As of Friday April 22nd, 2016, I'm finally a fully certified high school teacher and University of Alberta alumna! Woo!!

I made it guys! I'm finally done!!11!!

Now, in two weeks time, I'll be kickin' it at the Newgrounds office with the cool kids and PARTYING FOR PICO DAY!! HUZZAH! 

Hey everybody! 

I'm finishing up my final year of university now, so my updates and art posts might be sparse for the next little while. Found out I won't be able to make it to MAGfest 2016 because of that, too. It falls in February this year which is a really busy time for me because I'll be teaching for my practicum. 

That said, I'll be finished school by mid April 2016, so Pico Day is gonna be the perfect excuse to party hard and celebrate being an alumna! Maybe I'll finally be able to try out the full-time artist thing while I look for work as a teacher, too.

Seeing everybody in Philly was really nice - always is. This time I went out there for the express purpose of relaxing, so I got to do that in the company of good friends. Made sure to see Stamper, TomFulp, and RicePirate before they left for PAXPrime, got to sit in on the recording of Sleepycabin's update video, recorded a podcast with @Digsbot and @JohnnyUtah, and get a bunch of commission work done. Even got to see @SandraDRivas as she released her new Eddsworld toon, and @Nackem while she visited from outside of PA! c: Thanks for being so welcoming guys. Philly's always felt like a home away from home.

Good luck with the last little bit of 2015!

Hope everybody's hangin' in there! <3

- Sab

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UPCOMING COMIC CONS in CANADA:

Sept 19-20 - Sask Expo - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Sept 25-27 - Edmonton Expo - Edmonton, Alberta

Oct 30-Nov 1st - Central Canada Comic Con - Winnipeg, Manitoba

Nov 14 - Otafest Aurora - Calgary, Alberta 

Packing my bags for another week-long trip to Philly! Gonna visit the guys at the Newgrounds office as well as Stamper and the Sleepycabin crew. 

Will return to Canada-land on the 1st of September! <3

Every time I travel anywhere to visit with my art pals, I make a point of bringing a comically huge sketchbook with me so I can keep memoirs of my visit in bound sketchbook form! It makes for a great 100% unique souvenir, and I love looking back on the drawings I've been given because a lot of the people have since become prominent artists and animators! 

Last week I FINALLY found a scanner big enough to scan all of the artwork I had amassed over the years and posted all 72 images on IMGUR.

Have a look! Maybe you'll see some familiar artists and characters!

______________________________________________________

--> [View Sabtastic's Travelling Sketchbook on IMGUR] <---

______________________________________________________

Artists featured (in no particular order):

@HappyHarry

@Sucho

@Egoraptor

@RubberNinja

@Oney

@Psychicpebble

@KnobJockeyNiall

@Stamper

@JohnnyUtah

@Luis

@Ricepirate

@Jazza

@TheSwain

@Jaxxy

@Jonas

@TheShadling

@Nackem

@JonTron

@Shnikkles

@LegolaSS

@SandraDRivas

@Forosha

@Fleadom

@Pickletoez

@Ventastic

@Fungasm

@JakBaronKing

@El-Cid

@Mindchamber

@CosmicDeath

@SamGreen

@LeftHandedSock

@MagicSwordz

@Digsbot

@Dudul

@EsquireBob

@Kirbopher

Woo! My Society6 shirts just arrived in the mail! 

(I shamelessly ordered my own art on t-shirts because I was curious about the quality - turns out it's really comfy and clearly printed!) 

The first one is based on one of my Demon Girl prints, the middle one is my Fierce Deity Link print, and the other is a Sugar Skull Zombie pinup! All artwork that I've posted here on Newgrounds!

[Sab's Society6 Store] <-- US based print company

PS: I've decided that I'm not going to sell my Cintiq Companion (referring to my previous journal post). I found out that WACOM actually sells gently used and repaired models for MUCH cheaper than my brand new one, so I would feel bad selling someone mine for full price when they could save almost a thousand bucks buying it used: [refurbished wacom products]